The U.S. attorney's office is asking a federal judge to investigate the unauthorized release of secret FBI surveillance video in the Liberty City Seven terrorism case.

The video involved a secret FBI undercover videotape of terrorism suspects allegedly planning to launch war on the United States, NBC 6's Jeff Burnside reported. The video also shows images taken by defendants, according to prosecutors, of the Miami-area buildings they allegedly considered blowing up.

The complete videotape was leaked to a local TV station. The leak has led the U.S. attorney back to court to file a motion with federal Judge Joan Lenard, urging that "the court should make inquiry regarding release to the media."

Mike Tein, who used to prosecute federal cases, is on the committee that makes rules for federal court. He said releasing evidence in advance of the trial risks tainting people who might become jurors.

"Because, a trial -- that's the show. That's the game. That's the time when the playing field is level and the judge is calling balls and strikes as she sees fit. What they've done -- whoever did this -- is put their thumb on the scale of justice before the trial has begun," Tein said.

The so-called Liberty City Seven were all assigned defense attorneys, and only those attorneys get the videotape and other evidence, called discovery, so they can prepare for the trial.

The U.S. attorney's office said, "Only one set of discovery materials has been released to date, and that was to a defense attorney."

According to other defense attorneys, Nathan Clark was the attorney who received the materials.

"The release of information like this, while troublesome from the standpoint of a lawyer and ethics, I'm not so sure it's detrimental to the government's case," said criminal defense attorney Mycki Ratzan.

"The judges in this district take these violations very seriously, and you can expect that whoever did this will be severely punished and could be kicked out of the bar," Tein said.

It is not illegal for the media to publish sealed materials under the First Amendment.

The U.S. attorney's office would not comment, and Lenard is out of town.

The trial is scheduled for March.